Spirit Realm

“The Flood of Time is definitely a scary ability… he almost killed all of us single-handedly.”

The Ice Emperor said with a difficult voice and a bitter smile on his face. If he wasn’t sure of the Great Sage’s power before, he definitely was now.

Everyone fell silent when the Flood of Time of time was mentioned. Their expressions were either gloomy, ugly, or both.

Tian Qi’s Flood of Time had struck a deep sense of powerlessness and fear in all of them.

The feeling of losing the Soul Altar or spirit energy they spent centuries to build up in an instant… it was a kind of terror and panic no one was planning on relieving anytime soon.

“Good thing his bloodline hasn’t exceeded rank ten yet, or else…” Ming Xiao paused for a moment, fear still lingering on his face. “The three Blood and Soul Mentors truly are the scariest existences in the entire world.”

Qin Lie thought the exact same as him.

“Whoosh!”

It was at this moment the limestone tablet in the sky flew back into Qin Shan’s hand.

Qin Shan smiled at Qin Lie before saying, “To tell you the truth, I haven’t finished tempering this Heavenly Lightning Pool yet.”

Qin Lie was astonished to hear this.

According to Tian Qi, this Heavenly Lightning Pool was a Divine Grade Five spirit artifact. Its power and grade had far exceeded Tian Qi’s expectations.

Tian Qi probably didn’t think that such a feat was possible for an artificer from Spirit Realm until just now.

The power of the Heavenly Lightning Pool was so massive that even his “Flood of Time” had been canceled out completely. It was the main reason why Tian Qi had ultimately decided to back off.

This proved that even Tian Qi was very wary of the Heavenly Lightning Pool.

But now, Qin Shan was telling him that the spirit artifact wasn’t even fully refined yet…

“Give me a bit more time.” Qin Shan smiled again before saying, “I’d found a few places that could nurture a Heavenly Lightning Pool and increase its reservoir of lightning even further. When it is time to pass this to to you, I believe it would be around Divine Grade Six…”

Qin Lie was shocked.

The Flame Emperor, the Ice Emperor, Ji Dan, and Hua Tianqiong were stunned as well.

“Divine Grade Six!” Hua Tianqiong stared blankly at Qin Shan. “Y-your artifact forging skills are this great already?”

“Unbelievable,” said Ji Dan with a bitter smile.

The Ice Emperor gave Qin Shan a deep look before saying, “Forget Spirit Realm, I doubt that there are more than a handful of artificers in the galaxy who are at your level.”

“According to my knowledge, there are only dozens of artificers among the millions of races that exists in this galaxy who can refine Divine Grade artifacts.” The Flame Emperor thought seriously before continuing, “As for those who can refine Divine Grade Five artifacts, there are probably only ten in the entire galaxy.”

The Ice Emperor added, “These people are respected by every race in the entire galaxy.”

“No wonder the Qin Family was able to recruit foreign bloodline experts into their midst.” Ji Dan finally realized something.

Not long ago, a couple of foreign bloodline warriors had appeared at Sky Bearing City. It was obvious that none of them belonged to Spirit Realm.

At the time, he couldn’t understand why these powerful bloodline warriors were willing to obey Qin Shan’s orders.

But after learning that Qin Shan was an artificer who could refine Divine Grade Five spirit artifacts, the answer couldn’t be anymore obvious—there was no place in the galaxy that didn’t welcome a Divine Artificer.

“My Lord!”

“Has Tian Qi left?”

Gordon, Gray, the Horned Devil Race, and the Ghost Eyed Race finally came back while they were speaking.

Gao Yu, Ling Xuanxuan, and the Ling Family clansmen were among them as well.

“Qin Lie, Ling Feng… Ling Feng is dead.”

Ling Xuanxuan was wearing a fiery red dress. Her eyes instantly reddened when she came over and saw Qin Lie.

“I know, Tian Qi had killed him right in front of me.” Qin Lie sighed deeply.

“S-sister was summoned by the Nine Hells Monarch too. We have no way to know if she’s alive or dead.” Ling Xuanxuan sounded like she could break into tears at any moment.

Ling Xuanxuan had gotten used to being overreliant on Qin Lie since a long time ago.

Every time she and the Ling Family were in great danger, Qin Lie was always able to appear at the most opportune time and save them.

For example, Qin Lie had once again appeared like magic at Nether City while they were at the brink of despair.

Every time she saw Qin Lie, hope would reignite inside her heart.

“She’s safe, you don’t need to worry about her,” Qin Lie said consolingly.

“How did you come here in the first place?” Gao Yu stared at him before his expression suddenly turned complicated. “I can no longer detect your true realm and bloodline rank.”

“Of course you can’t. You’d only entered the Imperishable Realm, and your bloodline isn’t rank eight yet. Of course his true realm is beyond your insight.” Ming Xiao rolled his eyes at Gao Yu before adding, “That being said, you’re improving very quickly already. After my avatar had changed your blood, I thought that your bloodline’s ceiling was going to be very low. I never thought that you’d come this far, and in just a decade or two no less. I was right to put my hopes on you.”

The Ogre-faced Rings Gao Yu wore back then had belonged to none other than the Demon God, Ming Xiao.

The Ogre-faced Rings contained several drops of Ming Xiao’s refined blood, and Gao Yu had refined them even before he had entered Nether Realm.

It was why the patriarch of the Horned Devil Race was sure that he was the son of a Demon God. He had Ming Xiao’s aura in him because he had refined his blood.

Later on, he was guided to Demon God Mountain Range to receive Ming Xiao’s bloodline inheritance officially.

By the time the inheritance process was over, Gao Yu’s human blood had been changed into the Demon God’s blood completely.

—It was also the Abyss Devil Race’s bloodline.

A decade or two later, Gao Yu’s Abyss Devil Race bloodline had actually reached the peak of rank seven. He was even close to evolving to rank eight.

At the same time, his soul and spirit energy had reached the Imperishable Realm. He could now forge a Soul Altar of his own.

Obviously, his cultivation speed was inferior to Qin Lie’s in many ways, but that didn’t stop Ming Xiao from feeling extremely proud of Gao Yu.

In his eyes, Gao Yu—half-man and half-Abyss Devil—was one of the greatest creation of his life. He had very high hopes for him.

Moreover, there was a theory he wished to prove through Gao Yu. He wanted to see if Gao Yu could reach a new height of power he had only envisioned in his mind.

“Greetings, Young Master Qin.”

“Hello, Young Master Qin.”

“It’s been so long.”

By now, Ku Lu and Ku Luo of the Horned Devil Race, as well as Eddie and Yuria of the Dark Shadow Race had also returned to Nether City. They all came to greet Qin Lie.

Unlike Gordon and Gray, they had never come into contact with the Venerable One, Qin Shan. Qin Lie was the one they were close with from the beginning.

Looking at Qin Lie now and thinking about the past, they couldn’t help but feel their emotions wash over them.

When the two brothers Ku Lu and Ku Luo first came to know Qin Lie, he had been a weakling with only a bit of potential.

Decades had passed in the blink of an eye, and now Qin Lie was a rank nine bloodline expert with the power to enter Nine Hells Purgatory on his own.

Even a universal legend like Tian Qi had to use them as hostage to threaten Qin Lie…

It was impossible not to feel anything after comparing the old and new Qin Lie.

“Everyone, it’s truly been a very long time,” Qin Lie greeted them all with a nod.

The Ling Family and the Horned Devil Race had been part of his earliest memories since he was young.

Not even he had predicted himself to grow strong enough to stand above all of Spirit Realm.

The Horned Devil Race and the Ling Family had also stepped out of the boundaries of Spirit Realm and entered the strangest place of the universe, the Eight Purgatories of the Abyss.

Everyone’s fates had changed drastically before they realized it. The change was so huge that it was impossible not to feel anything.

“Gao Yu and everyone whose surname is Ling, come with me.” Ming Xiao looked at the crowd once before walking towards an empty, wide hall in Nether City.

“Who is he, Qin Lie?” Ling Xuanxuan asked.

“He’s the Ling Family’s ancestor,” said Qin Lie.

Joy entered the Ling Family member’s features when they heard this. Everyone including Ling Xuanxuan followed behind Ming Xiao obediently.

“The Ling Family is descended from Ming Xiao and a human woman. That is why they all have Abyss Devil Race bloodline in them,” Qin Shan said. “As for those with purple hair and purple eyes, they are people who have awakened their bloodline. Ming Xiao is planning to strengthen all of them by awakening their bloodline at an even deeper level,.”

“Grandpa, how are the other four Demon Gods doing?” Qin Lie asked.

“They will be reviving soon,” Qin Shan let out a soft laugh before continuing, “When those four awaken, the Dark Nether Race will enter a whole new height of power.”

A pause later, he added thoughtfully, “In fact, they may one day rule over an entire purgatory.”